Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale recently wrote a letter to Rajit Punhani, the Chief Executive Officer of Sansad TV, expressing his concerns over what he termed as "unfair and mischievous" camera-switching during the broadcast of Rajya Sabha sessions on the channel. All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Gokhale took to Twitter to share a copy of the letter and highlighted the issue of allegedly biased broadcasting.
In his letter, Gokhale alleged that Sansad TV, a state-owned channel, showed a clear bias by focusing on the Treasury/Government benches while virtually blacking out footage of the Opposition benches during the live telecast of Rajya Sabha sessions. He emphasised that as a public broadcaster, Sansad TV should maintain a non-partisan stance and provide equal coverage to both the Treasury and Opposition benches.
Gokhale said that over the past 10 days, he had observed that the camera almost exclusively focused on the government benches, neglecting the Opposition benches situated on the right side of the House. He further added that even when a member from the Opposition benches was speaking, the camera failed to show their side of the House.
“As a public broadcaster, you are required to be non-partisan and give equal coverage on live TV for both Treasury and Opposition Benches. To focus only on the government benches while completely blacking out footage of Opposition benches raises questions of bias and partisanship,” he wrote in the letter.
In light of these observations, Gokhale urged Sansad TV to rectify the bias and demanded equal and unbiased coverage of both the Treasury and Opposition benches during the current session of Parliament. He also expressed his readiness to provide analytics showing the discrepancy in the camera focus, indicating disproportionate coverage of the ruling party.
“If required, my office can send you analytics of how many minutes of time were given to Treasury Benches versus Opposition Benches on Sansad TV Rajya Sabha. It has been noticed that the camera doesn't focus on or show the Opposition Benches even when a Hon'ble Member is speaking,” he added.
Gokhale requested an immediate written response from Sansad TV, detailing the steps the channel intends to take to address the matter and ensure fair and unbiased broadcasting during the ongoing Parliament session. He emphasized the urgency of the issue and sought prompt action to rectify the perceived anomaly.
On Tuesday, August 1, journalist Mohammed Zubair, who is the co-founder of fact-checking organisation AltNews, pointed out that when Union Home Minister Amit Shah was speaking in the Lok Sabha, Sansad TV’s coverage seemed to cut away from anyone heckling him with a placard demanding that the Union government address the Manipur crisis in the Parliament.
A shocking thing I've noticed through this current Parliament session is how state-owned @sansad_tv indulges in a devious censorship when broadcasting proceedings of Rajya Sabha.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) August 2, 2023
The channel brazenly & exclusively focusses on the Treasury/Govt benches while completely blacking… pic.twitter.com/xwR0xmwU0C